$225-Million-Dollar Partnership between SUNYIT and UAlbany's College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering

Published on July 15, 2009 at 8:06 PM

Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, joined by Gov. David A. Paterson and Assemblywoman
RoAnn M. Destito, today announced the creation of a high-tech venture between
SUNY Institute of Technology
at Utica/Rome (SUNYIT) and the University at Albany's College of Nanoscale
Science and Engineering (CNSE), establishing the Computer Chip Hybrid Integration
Partnership (CHIP).

This cross-regional partnership will develop the region's physical and
intellectual ability and result in a state-of-the-art high tech business incubator/technology
accelerator at SUNYIT. This joint partnership will support the attraction and
retention of small and medium size nanotechnology companies in the Utica-Rome
area and provide the necessary infrastructure to enable innovation, education
and commercialization of computer chip solutions in upstate New York.

The project is expected to create as many as 475 supplier and contractor jobs
in the Mohawk Valley and expand the nanotechnology industry throughout upstate
New York.

“Today we are announcing the genesis of a whole new, job-creating high-tech
economy in the Utica-Rome region,” said Silver (D-Manhattan). “We
are linking the highly successful nanotechnology partnership at UAlbany with
SUNYIT to bring the nanotechnology industry and high-paying jobs into the Mohawk
Valley. The shovel ready site at SUNYIT in Marcy is an essential piece in creating
a high-tech corridor stretching from Albany to Buffalo. We are encouraging university-industry
collaboration and the establishment of upstate New York as a premier location
for nanotechnology research, development and manufacturing. This partnership
would not be possible without the leadership of Governor Paterson and RoAnn
Destito's tireless work in making nanotechnology jobs a reality for the
Mohawk Valley.”

“This collaboration is based on the very successful model that has been
developed at the College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering at SUNY Albany,”
said Destito (D/WF-Rome). “Today we are announcing a series of “firsts”
that are the culmination of several years of discussion and planning that I
have been working on with a number of key partners. Most importantly, the $35
million dollars in funding Speaker Silver and I have secured for this project
will establish the first regional, cross-university Research and Development
nanotechnology facility in upstate New York.”

“When we talk about New York's investment in the New Economy, it's
not just money we're investing. Today, we are investing the educational
opportunities for students across the State and our reputation as the global
leader in nanotechnology,” said Governor Paterson. “I want to thank
Speaker Silver and Assemblywoman RoAnn Destito for their commitment to SUNY's
Institute of Technology and the University at Albany's College of Nanoscale
Science and Engineering. As I noted in my New Economy address in June, our state
has led the world's economy for the past hundred years, and we are poised
to lead for the next hundred. We have the brightest minds, the best universities
and a thriving tradition of innovation and entrepreneurship.”

“Our congratulations and gratitude to Speaker Silver, Governor Paterson,
Assemblywoman Destito, and the New York State Assembly for their bold vision,
pioneering strategy, and smart investment in launching the first inter-regional,
cross-university nanotechnology research, education, and economic outreach public-private
partnership in Upstate New York,” said Dr. Alain E. Kaloyeros, Senior
Vice President and Chief Executive Officer of CNSE. “By leveraging critical
state university assets, through SUNYIT and CNSE, and key corporate resources,
through IBM and SEMATECH, within the New York nanoelectronics cluster, this
partnership will establish in Utica-Rome the state-of-the-art infrastructure
and capabilities necessary to enable innovation and commercialization, leading
to the creation of hundreds of new high-tech, high-paying jobs. Longer term,
this announcement will set the stage for future opportunities for high tech
corporate investments in the Utica-Rome area, including at the globally competitive
Marcy Nanotech site.”

The CHIP venture also establishes the Computer Chip R&D Integration Center
(CCIC) at the University at Albany. The center will partner with leading chip
firms including IBM and SEMATECH to concentrate on research and development
of “system on a chip” (SOC) technologies in which components of
a computer or electronic system are contained on a single computer chip. SOC
technologies are integral to the telecommunications, automotive, biomedical,
defense and consumer electronics industries. CCIC will create 200 new high-tech
research and development positions at the university.

Additionally, the enterprise creates the Computer Chip Commercialization Center
(CCCC), at SUNYIT for the assembly and integration of SOC systems developed
at CCIC. The commercialization center will include a state-of-the art “cleanroom”,
which removes impurities from the air and allows for the integration of SOC.
The center will act as a business incubator to attract chip suppliers and contractors
at SUNYIT, including the first ever SEMATECH Center in upstate New York.

The project is funded with $92.5 million in capital funds from this year's
state budget, as well as a combined capital investment of $133.5 million from
the internationally renowned firms IBM, SEMATECH and Intel.

The partnership also creates a joint educational and training curriculum between
the SUNYIT School of Information Systems and Engineering Technology and CNSE
that would prepare workers for careers in computer chip integration and deployment.
The CHIP establishes an inter-regional, cross-university structure for promoting
the nanoelectronics industry.

Related College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering, University at Albany News